1 John 1:1: That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life.

“Which we have looked upon.” The word looked is from the Greek word theaomai from which we get our English word theatre, meaning “to gaze intently upon.” The theatre is a place where you sit and look, not just with a passing glance but with a gaze—a steady gaze for a couple of hours. John is saying that for three years they gazed upon Jesus. It was John who wrote, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up” (John 3:14). During the wilderness march, the people who had been bitten by the serpents were to look for healing to that brass serpent which had been lifted up on a pole. John is applying that to the Lord Jesus and saying that now we are to look to Him in faith for salvation. After we have done that, we are to gaze upon Him—and we will do that in this epistle. To look, saves; to gaze, sanctifies. John wrote in his Gospel, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Many of us need to do more than simply look to Him for salvation. We need to spend time gazing upon Him with the eye of faith. 1

Loving Him

We love Jesus when we listen to and obey His Word. We love Jesus when we stare at His creation and thank Him for the majesty we see. We love Jesus when we look at the spiritually lost and wayward and we are moved with compassion to pray for them, that they may come to know the love of God. We love Jesus when we use our hands to serve others and our heart to bless others. How are you going to love Jesus today?

Loving Others

When we behold Jesus, we behold His love for others. – TWEET IT

Changing Me

Lord, forgive me for taking my eyes off of you. May I think less of me and more of You.

1. 1McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (1 John) (electronic ed., Vol. 56). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

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Tommy Blumberg

Tommy Blumberg

Tommy Blumberg was ordained as a Calvary Chapel pastor in 1985, where he served as an assistant pastor at Calvary Fellowship, in Seattle. In 1992, Pastor Tom, his wife Pam, and their three daughters moved to Bellingham and began a Bible study, which led to the founding of Calvary Chapel Northwest. Tom blogs regularly at TommyBlumberg.com.